Stat Line Of The Night — 4/15/12 — Jonathan Quick

Goaltending was supposed to be the story for the Vancouver Canucks heading into Game Three of their opening round playoff series against the Los Angeles Kings, as they gave Roberto Luongo the night off in favor of backup Cory Schneider following two straight losses. And while Schneider was impressive, stopping 19 of the 20 shots he faced, it was Kings’ goaltender Jonathan Quick who would once again make his mark on this series.

The Canucks’ game plan heading into last night’s game was to get as many pucks to the net as they possibly could. That strategy would translate into a total of 41 shots on the Kings’ goal, but Quick would stop each and every one of them for his second career playoff shutout. And his team would need every one of those saves, as they could only manage one goal of their own during their 1-0 victory in Game Three.

Goaltending has been a key to the Kings’ success all season, as they entered the playoffs with the second-best goals against average in the league (2.07 GA/G). Quick has certainly carried his Vezina-worhty regular season performance over into the playoffs, as he has stopped 115 of the 119 shots he’s faced in the series thus far. Forty-one of those saves came during last night’s stellar outing, which earned him “The Stat Line of the Night” for Sunday, April 15, 2012.